| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
Leslie expected to return to action Thursday
Monday August 11, 2003EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) Lisa Leslie is expected to return to the Los Angeles Sparks' lineup on Thursday, just over four weeks after injuring her right knee in the WNBA All-Star game.
Leslie practiced with the Sparks for the first time since bruising a bone in her right knee in a collision with Detroit's Swin Cash on July 12. She is expected to play Thursday at Minnesota.
The two-time defending champion Sparks have gone 4-7 without Leslie, falling a half-game behind Western Conference-leading Houston.
``It feels good,'' Leslie said. ``I'm excited about playing it's like the first day of training camp. I'm really pushing through and going hard. Conditioning will definitely be a factor, but my knee felt really good.
``I never saw myself as the heart of our team but our team looked like it was playing without our heart. And in turn I realized that they're my heart and I work hard for them. I think once we put the body back together, things will be fine.''
All-Star forward DeLisha Milton also practiced for the first time since being placed on the injured reserve list Tuesday with a left-ankle injury. Milton is also expected to play Thursday.
``It's a blessing to have them back,'' Sparks coach Michael Cooper said. ``With their return, we're the championship team we're supposed to be. They are two key players and if you take two of the best players off of any team in this league, they will struggle just like we did.''
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